By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE operators of the Chances Games web shop chain on Wednesday hosted the company’s second responsible gaming seminar to equip its New Providence staff with the resources to adequately assist customers exhibiting compulsive gambling habits.

Chances’ Chief Operations Officer Renita Cornish told reporters yesterday that the company continues to work towards its goal of becoming one of the nation’s most responsible gaming entities, ensuring that customers with addictions have access to the necessary help.

She said: “We want you to come in and play, but play responsibly. Bring ‘x’ amount of dollars and you stick with that. That is something we want our gamers to understand and accept.”

“Yes, we want you to game with us but at the same time we want you to do so in a manner that doesn’t disrupt your day-to-day lives. If you set aside $100 per week or per month we want you to stick with that, not go over. We don’t want you to spend your kids’ school fees, the grocery money and all of that.”

The web shop chain has partnered with psychiatrist Dr David Allen and his Renascence Institute to bolster its responsible gaming initiative.

Clients exhibiting addictive characteristics will now be able to seek counselling and guidance anonymously at the Renascence Institute.

“(Dr Allen and his team) are going to teach our employees the skills of identifying persons with issues,” Ms Cornish said.

“At Chances, we want our employees to be capable of providing the best services to our customers, recognise an issue if one exists and direct those persons to the help that we have worked really hard to provide.”

Dr Allen, the director of the Renascence Institute, established the initiative as a compulsive gambling treatment programme to aid those battling all forms of addictions.

According to Dr Allen, persons battling a gambling addiction would more than likely have exhibited addictive tendencies in the past, or have a close relative with addictive behaviours.

He said critical research conducted has already made a connection between all forms of addictions, insisting that persons exhibiting addictive behaviours can now be more readily identified.

“There is a connection in the brain where we believe that addiction takes place, that is why the new statistical manual for psychiatry, all of the addictions are linked together,” he said.

“A gambling addict will most likely have an alcohol problem, a drug problem or some other addiction. That is why a person’s family history is very important, if you have an alcohol addict in your family the chances are that you or someone closely related to you can become a gambling addict.”

When asked about the prevalence of addictive behaviours in the Bahamian society Dr Allen said that the high rate of addiction came as a result of a lack of knowledge.

He suggested that a lack of education on the mental make-up of an addict has forced persons with these types of behaviour into dark corners where they have conditioned themselves to hide their habits.

“Zeal without information is ignorance and sadly in our country today we have a lot of zealousness, but we do not have the right information,” added the psychiatrist.

He called for more information to be disseminated, suggesting that if persons understand what they are and how their actions relate to those around them they can see the need to transform their actions.

In an attempt to draw a stronger connection between the psychological make-up of a person and their addictive behaviour, Dr Allen asked one of his assistants, Andre Chappell, a recovered addict, to share with staff the signs of addiction.

Mr Chappell shared his story of drug and alcohol addiction.

He said that as an addict, he couldn’t understand the difference between enjoying his actions and allowing those actions to become the “soul of my existence”.

“You know, it always used to amaze me when I was growing up, I used to watch people go out for cocktail parties or they would sit and have one or two drinks and call it a night,” he said.

“It just could not register to me how somebody would be able to have one or two drinks or go and gamble once or twice and not have to go back for it again and again,” he added.

Mr Chappell was able to end his addiction in 2009 with the help of Dr Allen, family members and other close friends.

On Wednesday, he stood and declared to those in attendance that with help, those suffering from addiction can be cured.

Chances Games was one of several gaming franchises to be granted a provisional gaming license by the Gaming Board in October.

Raymond Culmer, CEO and president of Jarol Investment Ltd, the company that owns Chances Gaming revealed last month that the web chain planned to expand its operations to some 65 stores.

More than 30 essential staff attended Wednesday’s seminar held at the British Colonial Hilton Hotel. The company recently held a similar seminar in Grand Bahama.